I Won't Say I'm In Love
by MasonLoganTaylorMatthews
Summary: When Will Solace tells the love of his life that he loves him he doesn't expect much in return, not when the person he loves is the Ghost King himself. But he'll discover that Nico is full of surprises. This is just a one-shot, a Salangelo fic. I may write more in the future as I love these two! Please read and review! Thank You


I Won't Say I'm in Love

The sun was setting behind the large lake; my hand was intertwined with another's. There was hardly any noise, which allowed me to hear the heavenly heartbeat coming from the person who was leaning against me. I listen to it carefully; I did this every time I spent with him. The first was when he had spent a week in the infirmary, I had told him I only wanted three days, but he made excuses as to why he needed to stay. I didn't mind though. I enjoyed his company; more so than I probably should have. It was then when I started listening to his heart; at first it was too fast, almost as if adrenaline was constantly coursing through his veins, as if he was always ready to get up and fight. He didn't know, but I stayed by his side his entire first night, listing to his heart. There were moments that first night that it slowed down to a more normal pace, very specifically when he was in a deep sleep and I entangled my fingers to his. While in his deep slumber he smiled and after a few moments he turned over and our hands separated.

That had been nearly two years ago, after Nico left on the third sunset we started a friendship, which grew into a close friendship, which grew into us being each other's best friends. We were the definition of an odd pair. We were night and day, Ying and Yang, chocolate and vanilla, Glinda and Elphaba, but like all those things we went great together. We shared common interest; that had come to a shock to both of us. We both loved horror movies, we both loved reading Shakespearean plays, his favorite was Macbeth, mine was Romeo and Juliet, we loved history, and we were both stubborn. It took months of having to face our own feelings, having to remind ourselves we deserved happiness, and the helping hands of Percy, Jason, Piper, Annabeth and Hazel(who had finally locked us in Nico's cabin and threated to keep us in there until we told the other how we felt.) It was in the newly re-molded Hades cabin that Nico muttered that he thought I was cute. I can still remember how hot my cheeks got as the blood rushed to them. I laughed and told him I thought he was cute too. After more threats from the others saying that wasn't good enough I asked him out. He gave me that all too famous death glare, that I secretly loved, and asked if I was serious. I smiled, walked closer to him, bent down and kissed him square on the mouth. When I pulled away his eyes were wide as dinner plates and his deathly pale face was a bright pink.

"Was that serious enough?" I asked smiling at him. He, for the first time in all the years I had known him, was speechless. I laughed, and told him that I'd pick him up at his cabin by nine-in-the-morning the next day and was let out by Hazel. And that had been exactly three hundred-and-sixty-five days ago today. I had been with Nico for one perfectly blissful year. He was my world my everything. He was the first thing I thought of when I woke up, and the last thing I thought of when I closed my eyes to go to bed. I looked over at him, his black hair now short; his bangs didn't even cover his eyebrows anymore. His once vampire pale skin now was slightly tanned, and his once onyx eyes were a warm chocolate brown. There was a smile on his face as he watched fish jump from the giant lake.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked smiling at my favorite person. He shrugged and looked up at me, his eyes boring into my soul.

"How'd I get so lucky?" he responded putting a hand on my cheek. I grabbed his hand and held it, feeling the warmth of his skin.

"I ask myself that every second, of every day." I responded placing a kiss on his hand. He rolled his eyes and snorted. "Uh-huh," he said while trying to hide the smile that was starting to show on his face. I leaned down and kissed his cheek. He smiled, not trying to hide it, and blushed as he always did when I kissed him.

"I have a present for you," I said as I reached behind me. He turned to me, one eyebrow raised.

"I thought we agreed not to buy each-other anything," he said in an accusing tone. I smiled my cockiest smile.

"Ahh, I didn't spend a penny." I grabbed the stem of the object and presented it to him. He chuckled as he took it. It was a rose, not any rose, a very special rose, a pure black rose. The petals had just started to part. He pressed his nose towards the opening of the flower and took in a deep breathe. He smiled as he exhaled. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

"I've never smelt anything so wonderful in my life, Will." I nodded.

"That's because that's the first rose of its kind." I informed him with a knowing tone. "I had the Demeter and Aphrodite kids help me create it," I said while looking at the black flower Nico was holding close to his heart. He looked up at me in bewilderment.

"You created this?" he asked in amazement. I nodded.

"Well, not really. The Demeter and Aphrodite kids really did most of the work, its most of their magic that made this. You see, this rose is pure magic. No true black rose exist in nature, other than the one you're holding in your hands. No rose smells that wonderful. This rose will never wilt," I told him, "not as long as there is a place for you in my heart." Nico didn't look at me, his eyes still fixated on the rose, his hands slightly trembling. "Also the more my love grows for you, the more the rose will blossom, and the better the scent will grow." When I was finished explaining the rose's magic I noticed a small tear growing in the corner of Nico's eye. A large smile was spread on his face, and he turned his head to look at me.

"You—you love me?" he questioned with a shaky voice. I cocked my head to the side. I looked into the eyes of the man I loved more than my own life. I grabbed his free hand and held it to my heart.

"With each beat, my love for you grows more and more, my Love. You gave me something I didn't think was possible, hope. I was lonely and scared, afraid I may never know love, afraid that because of who I was I was not worthy of it, I was just better at hiding these fears from everyone than you were." He bit his bottom lip and chuckled.

"You thought you weren't worthy of love?" he asked me. I nodded my head.

"Yes, until a certain boy came into my life and made me see that those fears were nothing more than lies. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. So yes, Nico di Angelo, I love you." I leaned down and kissed him. It was a deep kiss; a lot of emotion went into it, from the both of us. When we parted, we were both breathing heavily. Our eyes locked onto one another's.

I did not expect him to say the words back to me, Nico wasn't very good at stating his feeling aloud, but he showed them, and so I didn't need to hear the words come from his lips, for in my heart I knew too loved me. I checked my watch and saw that it was seven-thirty. I sighed. The Summer Solstice Talent Show was going to begin soon. My siblings had arranged this, much to my dismay. I wasn't looking forward to seeing most of the people at camp reenact the Trojan War. I had hoped Nico would go with me, I tried to tell him it would be fun if we went together, but he informed me he'd rather go back to Tartarus than listen to Rachel Dare sing _My Heart Will Go On. _I was half tempted to just stay with him in his cabin, enjoy our year-anniversary sans pants, but my siblings assured me that if I didn't show I'd regret it. So I grudgingly agreed to come, to see all the hard work they had put into it.

"Time to head to the show?" Nico asked. I frowned and nodded.

"Are you sure you don't want to go with me?" I asked making my best puppy dog face. Nico shook his head and laughed.

"Not going to work, Solace. I will not be caught dead _watching _a single part of that show." I grumbled and got up.

"Fine," I said looking down at him, the rose still clutched to his heart. "But when the show is over, I'm coming over, and showing just how much I love you." I winked at him as he blushed. I blew him a kiss and started to run to the newly built stage a mile away.

When I had made my way to the stage nearly every seat had been filled. My siblings were running around getting people ready to go on, making sure everyone was ready.

"Will," I heard someone call my name. I looked around and found my father waving for me. My father's punishment for had happened with Gaea was to take Mr. D's place for the next two-hundred and fifty years. He didn't find this to be much of a punishment as it gave him time to spend with his children. As far as gods go, Apollo was one of the good ones. His blond hair matched mine and his physical appearance only appeared to be a few years older than me, making call him "Dad" slightly uncomfortable. I walked over to him and gave him a smile.

"I didn't think you'd want to come to this," I said as I took the open seat next to him. He shook his head,

"Nonsense, I love the arts, and how could I say no to my own kids?" I shrugged and stared at the empty stage, hoping the show would start soon. My prayers were answered when the lights around the stage were dimmed and the first person appeared on the stage. The next two hours were some of the most excruciated in my life, and I was being Hades to put me out of my misery. A lot of the acts were, as I suspected, reenactments of arguments between the gods, and the acting and customs was likely the worst I had ever seen. Finally, the last act was over. Everyone clapped, and the girl, a couple of children of Ares, who had performed _"We Didn't Start the Fire_" exited the stage. I was getting out of my seat when my little sister, Rebecca came on stage with a microphone in hand. My father pulled me back down and I pouted. My sister smiled at us all and started to talk.

"Thank you all so much for coming out tonight. I do hope you all had fun and enjoyed the acts, speaking of which lets give all of our acts a round of applause." A roar of applause erupted from the audience. I groaned, desperately wanting to go and see my Nico and hold him tight to me. When the applause died down my sister started to talk again. "Before we announce the winner we have one more act." I growled low enough so that no one could hear, although I did get a look from my father. "This act is dedicated to my big brother, Will." I looked up at my sister with wide eyes. Had my siblings planed something for me? My stomach began to turn into knots, I felt it rise, worried about what was about to come next. Rebecca walked off stage and the lights again dimmed, this time turning into a light blue. I waited anxiously. Suddenly a boy wrapped in a purple toga walked along the stage and sat down on a wooden bench that appeared from nowhere. My mouth dropped when I finally got a good look at the boy wrapped in the light purple toga…Nico. In his hand was the black rose I had given to him earlier. A familiar tune began to play. I knew I recognized it from somewhere, but my shocked mind wasn't working on all cylinders. Nico didn't look up at the audience, but at the rose.

"You'd think a boy would learn," he spoke just loud enough for us to hear. And suddenly it hit me. The tune, the light purple toga. My mouth continued to hang open. He wasn't, we wouldn't, this wasn't something Nico would do.

"If there's a prize for rotten judgment, I guess I already won that," Nico began to sing, his voice sounded classical and timeless, like an angel. My heart began to flutter as the words effortlessly poured out of his mouth. "No man is worth the aggravation," he said standing up, looking right at me, a cocky smile spread across his face. "That's ancient history, been there, done that!" He thrusted his hip to the side and threw the rose in the same direction. Suddenly a spot light shinned on four girls, wrapped in white togas. I recognized them instantly, Piper, Annabeth, Calypso and Hazel. They started to dance, swaying their hips and shanking their shoulders.

"Who'd 'yah think you're kiddin' he's the Earth and Heaven to you. Try to keep it hidden? Honey we can see right through you," they sang in unison, their voices as timeless as Nico's. There was another spot light, this time shining on four boys, who were also wrapped in white togas. Jason, Percy, Leo and Frank started to snap their fingers and tap their feet.

"Bro ya can't conceal it, we know how ya feeling, who you're thinking of," the boys sang in perfect harmony with one-another. Their deeper voices echoing through the forest. Nico ran his fingers through his black hair and shook his head, completely in character.

"No chance, no way, I won't say it no, no." His voice was magical, it made my heart beat like it never had before.

"You swoon, you sigh," the girls sang.

"Why deny it, uh-oh," the boys sang as they slide near the girls. Nico rolled his eyes and swayed his hips as he walked away from the group of people.

"It's too cliché. I won't say I'm in love." Nico sang as the boys and girls paired up in their pairs and shrugged. Nico looked down at the ground.

"I thought my heart had learned its lesson," he sang, real pain echoing in the words. "It feels so good when it starts out. My head is screaming 'get a grip boy'. Unless you're dying to cry your heart out! Whoaaaaaa" he sang. The others started their part, holding on to one another, swaying along to the rhythm,

"You keep on denying who you are and who you're feeling," they sang. Frank twirled Hazel who spun until she was in front of Nico, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "But brother I ain't buying, we all saw you hit the ceiling," she sang and then twirled back to Frank.

"Face it like a grown up, when ya gonna own up," sang the boys.

"That you got, got, got it bad!" sang the girls. Nico shook his head and started to back away from the others as they circled him.

"Whoaaaaa, no chance, no way! I won't say it no, no." Nico sang as he flipped them all the bird. The boys started to slow dance with the girls.

"Give up, give in. Check that grin you're in love!"

"This scene won't play; I won't say I'm in love!" Nico stood center stage, while the others danced around him.

"You're doing flips, read our lips, you're in love!"

Nico shoved past them. "You're way off base, I won't say it" he sang while getting closer to the bench he had originally sat on.

"He won't say he's in love," the others sang while they shrug their shoulders looking at one another.

"Get off my case I won't say it." Nico nearly shouted as he started to sit.

"Bro, don't be proud," the boys sang as they pulled their better half's closer to the.

"It's okay, you're in love," the girls sang as they pressed themselves into their boyfriend's chest. Jason made a gester with his hand and the black rose that had been thrown to the ground at the beginning flew into Nico's waiting hand. He looked at it lovingly, gently touching the velvety petals. And then he looked up at me. A wide smile spread across his face. "Oh—hhhh, at least at loud, I won't say I'm in love!" At that moment the rose started to bloom, the petals opening, and Nico's smile grew larger.

"The couples looked into each other's eyes, smiled and pulled into a deep, romantic kiss." Nico gave me a wink and blew me a kiss.

At first there was nothing but silence, and then a thunderous applause erupted. I just sat there, wide eyed, my heart thundering in my chest. There was so much love in my heart, I just wanted to run up and grab Nico and never let him go. I felt a warm hand grab my shoulder. I looked to see my Dad staring at me.

"Well don't just sit there," he said smiling. "Go and get him," he told me with a smile. I got up and ran towards the stage. I was greeted by the smiling faces of Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Frank and Hazel. They all patted me on the back as I walked closer to Nico, who was still sitting on the bench. He looked up at me, with a smug smile on his tanned face.

"What did you think?" he asked looking up into my tear stained eyes.

"Why?" I asked smiling. He stood up and put his hands on my shoulders.

"I heard someone say that people do crazy things when they're in love," he said, "and Will Solace, I love you, more than my own life."

My heart fluttered in my chest. Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't stand there like an idiot, Solace. Kiss me!" he ordered. I didn't have to be told twice. I leaned down and kissed Nico, not caring that my father and the entire camp was watching. I heard a loud applause and cat-calls but they were all drowned out by the bliss that consumed every inch of me.


End file.
